This Week’s Update:
Thanksgiving – Monday, October 11 – No School
Grade 7 and 8 Possible Schedule Adjustment
TDSB Student Health Screening Form – Change
Thanksgiving: Monday, October 11th is Thanksgiving and it is a school holiday for all students. School will resume on Tuesday, October 12th. Thanksgiving is a holiday that is celebrated on the second Monday of October each year. It was a time when people would give thanks for the harvest of the season. Over the years the holiday has become a day of gathering with family and an opportunity to give thanks for health, happiness and to recognize the positive events of the year. More information about Thanksgiving can be found in this passage from the Canadian Encyclopedia.
Vaccinations – Grade 7 and Grade 8: Traditionally, Toronto Public Health has provided vaccinations for HPV and Hepatitis B to Grade 7 students in the school. Due to Covid procedures and a Toronto Public Health focus on Covid vaccinations in the community this has not occurred in the last two years. However, this does not mean that the vaccine is any less important. Toronto Public Health is restarting its publicly funded school vaccination program to protect students in Grade 7 and 8. Appointments can be booked for City-run immunization sites at www.tphbookings.ca More information is available here.
Grade 7 and 8 Possible Schedule Adjustment: As we navigate through our return to school, we have noticed a few aspects of our schedule that we would like to possibly adjust moving forward. Currently students have a 15-minute nutrition break in the morning and in the afternoon. We are looking to place those nutrition breaks in other parts of the day and increase our lunch period with students dismissing at , 11:05 a.m., and at the end the school day at 2:55 p.m.
These changes will address the following:
- it will allow for more time at lunch, so students don’t feel they have to rush home to eat their lunch and then rush back to school
- at the end of the day it will help to stagger exit for all students that exit out those back doors, which can be busy at 3:10 p.m.
- older siblings will have more time arrive to the meeting location to pick up younger siblings
- students participating in extracurricular activities at lunch time will have more time to eat
If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher. A decision about a change in the schedule will be communicated in next week’s Friday Flash.
Class Reorganization: During the fall our staffing department reviews enrolment at each school compared to projected enrolment from the spring. On occasion actual enrolment may differ from the projections which can result in class or school reorganization as the TDSB meets Ministry mandated class averages. This week, we received information from our staffing department indicating that we would need to reorganize some of our classes due to enrolment. Our Grade 5 and 6 classes and our Kindergarten classes have been impacted by this reorganization.
Kindergarten: Our Kindergarten enrolment was lower than expected this year, resulting in a reduction of the number of classes from 5 to 4. As a result of the direction from the staffing department, the students in Ms. McCormick’s class will be reorganized and absorbed by the other four classes. Furthermore, Ms. Gage, who has been teaching Kindergarten will be reassigned to teach our new Grade 6 class. Ms. McCormick will assume the teaching duties of K2.
Grade 5 and 6: Due to greater enrolment than was expected we have been provided with an extra class in Grade 4-8. As a result, we will have two Grade 5 classes – Mr. Rego and Mr. Littlejohn and three Grade 6 classes – Mr. Harrison, Ms. Taylor and Ms. Gage. The reorganization reduces the size of these classes from over 30 to approximately 25 students per class.
These changes will take place effective Tuesday, October 12. All students and families have been notified of the changes.
As always, our teachers will do their very best to build community in the classroom and support students through this transition period. If a student moves from one class to another, First term Progress Reports will be written collaboratively with both teachers.
TDSB Student Health Screening Form Change: Students and parents should note that there has been a change to the Health Screening Form. The changes include the addition of the phrase “Anyone who is sick or has any symptoms of illness, including those not listed above, should stay home and seek assessment form their health care provider if needed.”
Student Health Pass is available on the main landing page of the TDSB website. More information about the daily health screening is available here.
Back to School Confirmation Form – If a child is home or sent home from school with symptoms of Covid this form should be completed and brought to school on the first day of return.
Lambton-Kingsway JMS 2021-2022 Parent Council
Treat Of The Month: Exciting News! We know this will not replace Pizza Lunch, but with the idea of bringing normalcy & creating something for the kids to look forward to, we wanted to introduce a treat of the month. There will be a one time sign up through school cash online and the deadline to sign up is October 15th, the cost is 60$. These treats will be distributed to each class the last Friday of each month & the children can eat them as a snack or bring them home. Examples each month are: kernels popcorn, chips and chocolate milk, decorate your own holiday cookie.
We will offer gluten free & vegan options and do our best to accommodate any dietary requirements. Treat of the month dates are: Oct 29th, Nov 26th, Dec 17th, Jan 28th, Feb 25th, March 25th, April 29th, May 27th, June 24th.
Please look for the school cash online sign up in your email. If you wish to help organize the treat of the month, there is a signup genius link below. Three volunteers will be required in addition to one of the Parent Council Executives. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0f49abae2dabf58-lkstreat
You will need to adhere to all TDSB protocols regarding health and safety.
If in the event anything happens with the school year going virtual etc, we will either change to delivering the snacks, figure it out with grade parents or offer a refund.
LKS Parent Council 